A Contemplative Day
A contemplative day
morning to dusk, I return to the window.
Heavenly light casting shadows,
I center my heart’s attention on the one thing
Tree in eternal standstill.
Earth spinning on its axis, in and out of daylight
Subtle changes, shifting shadows.
The one thing is still the one thing.
Cloaked with leaves from green to golden yellow or in winter, naked
The tree is still the tree.
Light and dark, a blanket of snow and shadow branches.
Insights shifting with the shadow.
Perspective is everything.
Shadow deepens, lengthens, lightens, disappears.
For shadow, for me, the Source of Light is essential.
The only lasting truth is change.
(written by me! © Jodi Blazek Gehr)
“Wonders are the signpost to the Wonderful. Wonders will not cease while time keeps unfolding. Time left ahead assures us of wonder’s returning.” –excerpt from Ceaseless Wonders, Ana Lisa de Jong, Living Tree Poetry, February 2025
Wonder captured me the other day as I was working in the kitchen. Our first measurable snowfall didn’t happen until February this year in southeast Nebraska. The sunlight on a backyard birch tree elicited the most intricate artwork on the fresh snow. I returned a time or two to see how the shadow shifted, deciding to make it contemplative prayer throughout the day.
Dozens of photographs captured the change that was imperceptible while watching through my window. The meditation extended into the days following—gathering the photos, reading about the science of light and shadow, writing the poem above, and reflecting on the wonders of nature, poetry, literature, ideas, perspective, and change.
Recently, Judith Valente, Benedictine oblate and writer, shared about an online poetry reading she attended with Kenneth Steven, author of Atoms of Delight. She wrote, “I like to keep a wonder journal. In these chaotic and turbulent times, I believe our capacity to be astonished by beauty and wonder will help ease us through the next few years.” She continues, “Atoms of delight are moments of unexpected, undeserved beauty that drop before us, like prayer beads sent from a divine source.”
Astonished by the beauty and wonder of shifting shadows was just such a pilgrimage in nature that Steven writes about in “Atoms of Delight: Ten Pilgrimages in Nature,” a kitchen table pilgrimage.
Nature is healing. “When the mind is festering with trouble or the heart torn, we can find healing among the silence of mountains or fields, or listen to the simple, steadying rhythm of waves. The slowness and stillness gradually takes us over. Our breathing deepens and our hearts calm and our hungers relent. When serenity is restored, new perspectives open to us and difficulty can begin to seem like an invitation to new growth.” (John O’Donohue, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace)
Consider practicing Visio Divina, a contemplative seeing, with the tree shadow photos. Share your insights in the comments! May you find light, wonder, beauty, and atoms of delight this day.
Judith Valente’s reflection Seeking Atoms of Delight here.
Being Benedictine 
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